gym

I lay in bed last night, knowing that if I was going to actually get my cards in a row, I had to do it now, not a few days from now, but this week. Or at the very least, start doing things right.

It was pouring rain last night and I didn’t feel like walking to the gym. It’s abut a mile and a half walk and I usually love the walk through downtown San Francisco, but through the windy, cold pouring rain, I wasn’t up for it. And for the rest of the night and even today, I felt guilty for it. It was one workout, just one, that I missed.

The simple truth is, if I don’t put 10% effort into getting into prime shape and losing weight, I won’t lose it. I can’t go half-assed about this. I’m in my 50s and weight loss doesn’t happen without complete commitment. And I’m ready to commit to it.

I passed my Personal Trainers renewal Sunday. I had studied weeks for it. I was so happy, that I allowed myself too much celebration I think.

But it is time to put the effort into my training. And also, into this blog. So, my friends, the time is NOW. Don’t put anything off, don’t wait until it is too late!

For those who haven’t been reading me for a while, 2017 has been a difficult year. I had been suffering from IT band pain since the 2016 San Francisco Marathon and it finally got so bad in late February I could barely stand it. I took two months off running, but that didn’t help at all. The only thing that came out of it was weight gain.

Ug…..

I came back with the determination to run AND fix this! So, I did my homework and I found out that it most likely was weak hips. I didn’t go back to the doctor. With my high deductible and the fact that I had previously spent $200 for nothing (!!), the doctor didn’t help solve this at all, I decided to fix it myself.

I dedicated myself to a strenuous schedule of running and going to the gym. I weight train three days a week. I do core exercises every time I’m at the gym and then I trade off different training depending on the day. Mondays – shoulders, Wednesdays – legs, Fridays – arms. I do a series of exercises chosen to make me stronger, with sets and reps increasing very gradually.

I do not use light weights either. I choose weights that I can lift comfortably, but are still hard. Depending on the day and the exercise, I can choose between barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, cables and a few weight machines.

I will go into specific exercises in the future. But my point is runners shouldn’t think that running is enough. I can’t count the times I’ve heard runners say how much they hate the gym or lifting or exercising (besides running). Yeah, it’s different and you do have to be inside, but I love it, and I wasn’t a fan when I started. You don’t have to do it as much as I do, but do some. And if you choose to do some form of lifting, don’t think that the little 5 pound weights are going to do anything. They won’t. Push yourself, just like you do when running. Get the most for your time spent.

When I put my all at the gym, as I do my running, I don’t have any pain. My legs, hips, glutes, etc are happy. And a happy body is a working body.

My 8-mile run this morning was wonderful. It made me very grateful for the blessings that I have.

We all hit rough spots in our lives. Times when the little things don’t seem to work out, one after another and it rolls into a snowball, zapping the energy out of us. Sometimes we can shake out of it and keep going, without moving even a step. But other times it hurts, it tires, it pains.

This happened to me last week. I got home from work mid-week, thinking I was ready to go to the gym, as always and didn’t have the strength to get up out of my chair.

I was so tired. Oh, so tired. I even had an extra day off work and had planned a nice trail run and didn’t do it. I didn’t go out for my long run either this past Sunday. I can’t explain why I was so burnt out, nothing big had happened; there were no changes in my life. Things have been getting better.

So I can’t explain it, except maybe it was burnout from the strain I’ve placed on myself.

I went for a short run after work today. It was my first run in 5 days. And it felt great! Better than any of my runs in the last couple of weeks.

I will get back to my workouts and I will lose weight, along with the two pounds I recently gained from my lethargic recess. I also have not forgotten about the 47 Hills. I will run the rest of those, although it may take me a bit longer than I thought. I simply cannot put more pressure on myself to get them out quickly. I’ve learned my lesson.

There is enough pressure in my life, I don’t need to add to it. Have great runs!

After posting diligently about the San Francisco hills, I’ve taken a quick break and will get back to them later this week.

Things have been busy; my workouts have been great and I’ve been running well. My downfall comes with eating. I eat healthy, just as I always have, but losing weight is difficult. Combine that with the rare occasion when I have a cheat meal and I gain all my weight back. I’ve realized that I need to cut my portions back from what I used to eat. Even with all the workouts and running, I simply cannot eat as much as I used to eat. Such are the ways of getting older.

But giving up is not an option and if I continue to MOVE FORWARD, I will lose the weight I desire and reach my goals.

Sunday mornings are usually my favorite time of the week. I set my alarm early; sometimes as early as 4:00am, go to bed extra early on Saturday night while my neighbors are heading out to have fun and wake up in the darkness looking forward to that week’s long run.

Everything changes with an injury. My IT band problems are keeping my from running for at least a month if not longer.

Sunday, I woke up late. I didn’t set the alarm as there was no morning run. In fact, my leg ached a bit, so I woke, did my morning stretches and figured out what else to do besides my long run. Unfortunately, I didn’t choose the smart and sensible thing. I ate a large breakfast and watched Netflix.

I’m not used to being side-lined. I’m not used to not having my favorite activity to plan. What to do, what to do…..the responsible person would get their fast spreading butt to the gym to get a decent workout in. At least I could clock in some stretching and cardio, but not this Sunday. I couldn’t get myself out of a funk.

This sorry state has lingered longer than I would like, but learning to cope with delay and disappointment is part of life, so I’m working my way through it. Sometimes, getting through a rough spot means just putting one foot in front of the other, so I will do that….

I didn’t expect to be injured. Who does? The setback I suffered from hasn’t gotten better. Weeks ago, I felt a small but irritating pain, sort of a nagging cramp in my right quad muscle. For a long time, I thought it was just tight muscles, so I worked at making the muscles, as well as my core stronger, but it never got any better. I then took a couple weeks off running to rest it, icing and heating and propping it up as much as I could, hoping it would heal.

After walking some this past weekend, I was still in pain.

One of the most difficult things for runners to admit is to succumb to injury. Being injured means races get cancelled, training schedules go out the window and our favorite activity stops. Completely. I have been looking forward to the Chinese New Year’s Race this Sunday, sponsored by the Chinatown YMCA as their biggest fundraising event of the year. I like doing the 10K. It’s a great course, going a double loop through Chinatown, Northbeach and along the Embarcadero, but I had to reduce my race to the 5K. I can always walk it if it starts hurting.

Not being able to run creates all sorts of negative side effects. I’ve started putting on a few pounds, especially over this past weekend. It was kind of a shock how fast I gained. I’ve since started being careful about my eating, but until I get back into running, the weight won’t be coming off very soon. And my mood….I’m working real hard on being optimistic.

Next week is my birthday and my stepmom is visiting me for the week. I’m taking a few vacation days, so we’ll have a great time. But, I’m still bummed out I can’t go run on a few of these days.

Tomorrow I will go to the gym for the first time in over a week and I’ll work mostly upper body and core, and try out the treadmill just to see how my leg feels. Wish my luck.

In a fitness instructor group I belong to, someone posted an article stating why lifting is the new running for women over 40. Many of the trainers chimed in how they hated running and how they were so happy when they stopped running.

Well…. I of course, had to add my voice asking why does it have to be one or the other? Why can’t those of us who enjoy being fit like both? I love to run, obviously, but I also really enjoy my time spent at the gym. Maybe I’m not a “serious lifter” like some, but I do plenty of tough work with dumbbells, kettle bells and barbells.

Ever since I can remember there has been this invisible and sometimes not-so-invisible divide between lifters and runners. Fortunately, stereotypes have been shed and more people on either side are agreeing that each has its merits. So when I saw this today and the agreements of how running is supposedly bad, it brought me back to the bad old days when lifters routinely discounted running.

I also saw this divide while studying for my trainer’s cert. Somehow, running has gotten a bad rap by the gym crew a while back and it’s still there.

I am all for adding strength training into one’s regular workouts. It has helped with my weight, my endurance, my strength and my lack of injuries. Frankly, I can’t imagine I would be running at all had I not added in strength training. But I also suggest that lifters stop their prejudice against running. Some seem to have an all-out dislike of cardio all together. Maybe because it’s difficult when one starts. But, like anything worthwhile, it takes time to master.

I only hope one day we lifters and runners can join together and understand we are both on the same side.

I have been away from my writing. Many things have been going on and not all good but I won’t bore anyone with all the torrid details. Except to say that stress sucks and I’ve had plenty of that. I have stress so bad right now that I grit my teeth at night (even with a mouth guard) that I have constant jaw pain. I take Advil for it and am trying to find solutions like meditation and changing my profession to ease out of it. I know will find a way and as most everything in my life, I know it won’t be easy.

But I’m still running, still getting out there and doing it. I am now more determined than ever to lose the weight I need, get the part-time personal trainer’s position I want and run like the wind!

I’ve been reading this book “The Untethered Soul”, by Michael A Singer about reclaiming your life and true Inner Growth. It’s an interesting read, one that can help me quite a bit, as I tend to worry a lot about things out of my control. I’ll write a complete review of it in here when I finish it.

Stress is the big killer. Combine stress with unhappiness and it can lead to many things, none of them good. And it has been getting to me lately. I simply must find a way to let go the stress I’m experiencing these days.

It is a work in progress. I’m including meditation in my evening routine, as well as getting back into eating healthy and striving to reach my fitness goals. This will take three things: 1) time, 2) patience and 3) money. And I need to do a better job at all three.

But it’s OK. I will do them all. My first goal is to not be so hard on myself. The greatest damage we can do is to be our harshest critic. So, I’m going to smile back at myself in the mirror more and carry on!

I ran six miles last night through Downtown and along the Bay. It was wonderful! The weather was mild, absolutely no wind and I felt so free. Tonight, I hit the gym, ready to work out my trouble spots: Core, Glutes, Shoulders, Arms.

And tomorrow as Scarlett said, is another day.

Cheers!

PS: I’ve revamped my blog/website. It’s now much simpler to reach and it will have a lot more content, including exercise instruction, recipes and reviews. Let’s just say that it will be a great place to check back often!

Some runs start out hard; I forget my Garmin (I know, but it happens) and I have to go back and get it, I run the first mile too fast, forget to roll, run too close to eating, and then I know the rest of the run is going to be so, so hard. Sometimes, the run doesn’t turn out to be as bad as I imagine and I wind up pleasantly surprised. Other times it’s agony for miles.

But then there are those runs when everything feels RIGHT. All cylinders clicking perfectly. The weather is wonderful, drivers are mindful and yes, pedestrians are courteous. At some point on one of these runs I’ll feel good, really good, as if I could run 25 more miles just like I’m doing. I may smile, I may turn up my music a little more and maybe I’ll check out the scenery I’m passing a bit more carefully.

On my last run I felt this, it’s called a Runner’s High, and what a great feeling! Many times I get my “high” after I run and am filled with adrenaline, but that sheer joy of finding comfort spot during running is a bliss I truly appreciate and enjoy. I kept going on this run, moving past the point I had planned, because it felt so good. My body embraced the steps, this is True Freedom. If I had allowed myself, I could have probably gone a couple more miles out of happiness alone.

But then a cyclist nearly ran into me and jolted me back into reality. Even with all the happy thoughts, I still have to remember that it’s a dangerous world for us runners; need to constantly be on guard.

In between my runs I’ve been spending a lot of time at the YMCA. I’ve learned to enjoy core and weight work. It’s a different kind of appreciation and workout. It’s more tightly controlled and inside. And it’s around others, most of the time. But without all the strength training and stretching I do, I couldn’t run, so it’s necessary.

My longest run in decades is coming up this Sunday. I’ll go for 20 or 21 miles, which will be the only 20+ mile run I get in before my marathon in December. I wanted to do more, but because of all the happened with Dad, it didn’t happen. I hope it’s enough.

Tomorrow night is a 9-miler, so I’m looking forward to hitting that sweet spot once more.

Four days a week, I get to run outdoors. I consider it a privilege. I do go the gym two to three days a week, but for four days, I’m outdoors.

There are a couple reasons why I have never, and will never run on a treadmill. For some reason the treadmill triggers my vertigo. Horrible spins usually start happening the second I step off (or try to step off) the machine, making it hard not to fall to the floor. That alone is enough for me to stay off them. On a lesser note, I find running on a treadmill the second most boring workout ever. First being the elliptical machine. It’s a personal preference, but I can’t handle more than a few minutes on one of those.

Path in Golden Gate Park

Happily, i’m a outdoors-type of gal, so being out in the elements is no biggie. Even if I lived in a snow area, or in the tropics, I’d be outside. I would find a way to run.

If all of my workouts were inside, I probably wouldn’t enjoy them as much. I love exploring different parts of San Francisco. I do wish I could afford a vehicle, because I would love to be able to drive to different parts of the bay Area and discover new places to run, but for now, that’s not possible. Until I can, I’ll just enjoy this big workout room called San Francisco!